LiFT opens new school to continue empowering neurodiverse children, adults

CLEARWATER, Fla. - Two moms came up with an idea at dinner more than a decade ago.

"We planned on that napkin, and we truly believed that we would make those things happen, not us, but as a community," Kim Kuruzovich, the LiFT’s co-founder and board vice chair, said.

Kuruzovich and Keli Mondello started LiFT, Learning Independence for Tomorrow, about 10 years ago with 17 students in the back of a church. It’s a school where children and adults with special needs, autism, ADHD and more can learn and grow without worrying about being bullied.

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"Kim and I both having daughters with neurodiversity," Mondello said. "We understand. We walk in those shoes every day. So, we can understand our parents and families, and that passion is just part of our culture and the love and the acceptance that our team members have for our students is unmatchable."

After renting about 16,000 square feet in two Seminole churches for years, they opened a 60,000 square foot facility on Tuesday.

"It’s very overwhelming. It's very gratifying. It's very humbling that our students’ needs are getting served, and that was really the most important thing to Keli and I, that we would be able to not only get the help our daughters needed and have them get the opportunities we felt like they deserved, but also reach other students and families as well and give them hope," Kuruzovich said.

They bought the building from Suncoast YMCA in Clearwater in 2021 and renovated the property. Now, 166 students attend the school – the most ever. The new space will allow them to double their enrollment, add more classrooms, sensory and therapeutic rooms, art, music and science spaces and more.

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From students K-12 to LiFT University Transition Program and LiFT Adult Training Program, students are all now under one roof. 

"We have a home now, and it’s ours, and we’re really excited about that," Kuruzovich said.

"The ripple effect of what's been created here will change lives, in perpetuity, forever. And hearing those students speak about what LiFT has done, I don't know that I can put into words the gratitude that I have for being a little bit on this journey with them," Mondello said.

"I’m no longer a hinderance to my own learning or the learning of others. Actually, my teachers and classmates think I’m pretty cool, awesome," Ryan Zepp, a LiFT University student, said.

Kuruzovich said they hope to grow the school to more than 400 students, open a café where LiFT University students will be employed and eventually open a residential community.

Local and state leaders, including Clearwater Mayor Brian Aungst Sr., Suncoast YMCA President & CEO Scott Goyer and state Senator Nick DiCeglie spoke at the ribbon cutting Tuesday as well. 

The project cost about $4 million.